Traditionally medical personnel are trained by a variety of methods including standard educational methodology such as reading and attending lectures to acquire the required technical knowledge of anatomy, physiology and other allied disciplines. Most medical practice also requires practical motor skills, most evidently in the field of surgery, and surgical after-care. For many years this medical training has been gained by dissection of cadavers, observation of medical procedures and supervised training in practice (‘see one, do one, teach one’ approach).
In more recent times, simulation apparatus has been developed to enable surgeons to practise techniques such as laparoscopic surgery (keyhole surgery) and other such procedures prior to undertaking the procedure on patients. The use of simulation models for training such surgeons is primarily concerned with the development of motor skills for use in such controlled environments. As such the surgeon can train repeatedly and independently.
Most surgical procedures carried out in the controlled environment of an operating theatre, are well-planned, scheduled in advance, and the lead attending clinician has a team of staff to support and assist his or her surgical interventions. However emergency surgical procedures occur unpredictably, outside of theatre, requiring the surgeon to perform in a time critical manner, in a foreign operating environment with an unfamiliar medical team assisting. The infrequency of such an event makes it extremely stressful for all involved.
The inventors have identified a previously unrecognised need for training medical personnel to act quickly and effectively to unexpected situations that might arise outside the controlled environment of an operating theatre, and in which any carefully learnt motor skills have to be exercised without delay, in the face of their own psychological, emotional and physiological responses that might occur in unexpected emergency situations. The apparatus and uses thereof of the present invention seek to provide a solution to the problem.